Taiwan Millions Tournament and Asian Poker Tour conclude record breaking summer festivals

 

Last weekend, two festivals in the Asian region sizzled with record breaking results. In Taipei City, the homegrown Taiwan Millions Tournament drew an enormous Main Event field and in Da Nang, the Asian Poker Tour wrapped up its richest Vietnam series. Here are the highlights.

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Taiwan Millions Tournament 14 – sponsored by Natural8

The 14th edition of homegrown Taiwan Millions Tournament (TMT) blew away all other installments. Running from July 14 to 31, 2023 at the newly opened Asia Poker Arena, the highly popular festival was jam-packed from start to finish resulting in lucrative prize pools at par with international tours.

Created by Chinese Texas Hold’em Poker Association (CTP Club), TMT 14 was a far cry from its humble beginnings of just ten events to today’s 40 game lineup. At the close, it paid out over NTD 58.5 Million with the Main Event covering a majority of the figure.

Festival review

Festival prize pool: NTD 58,571,088 (~USD 1,849,625)
Trophy events: 40
Entries: 11,234
Record prize pool:  Main Event – NTD 22,987,100 (~USD 733,700)
Record turnout: 3,485 – Main Event
Single largest payout: Wu Chiayun – NTD 3,600,000 (~USD 114,900)
Multi-winners: Chih Hsien Lin (5), Chia Chaing Ko (2), Inkuei Tan (2), Yih Chia Shaw (2)
Multi-final table cashes: Wu Chiayun (8), Chih Hsien Lin (7), Philip Wang (7), Wei Chun Liu (5), Edward Yam (4), Jia Chi Lee (4), Yan Chen Jiang (4), Yih Chia Shaw (4), Chi Jen Chen (3), Chih Ying Liang (3), Dicky Tsang (3), Han Yee Seow (3), Inkuei Tan (3), Ka Shun Tsang (3), Kaustubh Mahesh (3), Mingchang Hsiao (3), Po Theng Huang (3), Shun Hei Lee (3), Tien Wei Yao (3), Weichen Liu (3), Wing Ki Cheng (3), Bojia Su (2), Chi Kan Kwan (2), Chia Chaing Ko (2), Chian Ya Hong (2), Douhoung Chien (2), Fate Wang (2), Huawei Lin (2), Hung Wei Yeh (2),Jeffrey Tsang (2), Jhenyi Chin (2), Josei Kamei (2), Justin Pak Kwan (2), Kuan Ying Chen (2), Kuang Ting Pan (2), Kurt Chun Han Lin (2), Lee Ni Hon (2), Lita Hsu (2), Lun Chun Chou (2), Makoto Yasuda (2),  Peng Sen Wu (2), Peter Ng (2), Pi Ying Hsu (2), , Ta Wei Wei (2), Teng Wei Lien (2), Ting Han Lin (2), Wai Fung Ng (2), Wei Li Hsu (2),  Yen Lin Chen (2), Yu An Wang (2), Yu Sheng Lin (2), Yun Shiang (2), Yunyinh Jheng (2), Zhe Ming Lee (2).

Record breaking Main Event

Sponsored by online platform Natural8, the Main Event lit up the last five days, drawing an astounding 3,485 entries for a staggering prize pool of NTD 22,987,100 (~USD 733,700). With its affordable entry fee of just NTD 8,000 (~USD 256), amassing a pot this large was truly reminiscent of the legendary Macau Millions. Emerging victorious was Taiwan’s Wu Chiayun who turned his lowly buy in into a handsome payout of NTD 3,600,000 (~USD 114,900).

Wu Chiayun wins record-breaking Main Event

Buy in: NTD 8,000 (~USD 256)
Guarantee: NTD 10,000,000 (~USD 319,760)
Entries: 3,485
Prize pool: NTD 22,987,100 (~USD 733,700)
ITM: 408 players

In addition to Wu’s milestone victory, he had 8 final table cashes, the most by any player. Breaking it down, Wu finished 1st at the Main Event, had 2nd and 4th place finishes, two 5th place finishes, and three 7th place finishes.

Chih Hsien Lin wins five events

Winning one event is never easy yet for Chih Hsien Lin, it seems to be a walk in the park. The Taiwanese player emerged victorious in an impressive five events, clearly the most by any player. In total, Chih cashed at the final table seven times with his biggest takedown at the Event 1: Warm Up Giant Stack for NTD 220,200 (~USD 6,950). Listed below are events Chih championed.

1st – Event 1: Warm Up Giant Stack
1st – Event 4: PLO Turbo
1st – Event 6: Head Hunter
1st – Event 9: 3 Card NLH Turbo
1st – Event 14: PLO

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Asian Poker Tour Summer Series Da Nang, Vietnam 2023

The Asian Poker Tour broke bounds once again, delivering a record-breaking Summer Series in Vietnam. Running from July 21 to 30, 2023 at the popular coastal city Da Nang, the event was held at the Ariyana Convention Centre, located within the premises of Furama Resort Da Nang. 

As the sun set on each day’s poker battles, the numbers spoke volumes. It amassed a grand festival payout of VN₫84.687,984,000 (~USD 3.57M) to be hailed the richest APT event in the country.

For the first time in the region, the APT served an extraordinary lineup comprised of 57 events featuring six poker variants, offered in  a variety of formats. This was a welcome change from the usual, keeping excitement at a high throughout. The biggest highlight was of course the Main Event which set new heights for the brand.

Festival review

Date: July 21 to 30, 2023
Festival prize pool: VN₫ 84.687,984,000 (~USD 3.57M)
Trophy events: 57
Entries: 5,180
APT record prize pool: Main Event – VN₫ 20,624,625,000 (~USD 868,590)
Single largest payout: Main Event – VN₫ 3,935,285,000 (~USD $165,280) – Shixiang Khoo
Flags represented: 35
Trophy breakdown: Vietnam (11), China (5), South Korea (5), Singapore (4), UK (3), Taiwan (3), Australia (3), Denmark (3), Japan (3), Netherlands (3), Thailand (2), Ireland (1), Portugal (1), Laos (1),  France (1), Bermuda (1), India (1), Hong Kong (1), Malaysia (1), USA (1), Romania (1).
Multi-winners: Jia-ming Zhang (3), Joshua McCully (2), Ngoc Minh Le (2), Hyeongyu Song (2), Martijn Gerrits (2), Nguyen Hoang Long (2), Michael Lindstrom (2).

Main Event sets new APT Vietnam record

The Main Event stole the spotlight drawing an astounding 675 entries for a new APT Vietnam record prize pool of VN₫ 20,624,625,000 (~USD 868,590). Among the sea of competitors, Singapore’s Shixiang Khoo rose to the occasion to capture his maiden title and a career high payout of VN₫ 3,935,285,000 (~USD $165,280). This was also the largest first prize of the series.

Vietnam lands 11 trophies

In the trophy race, Vietnam had a slow start, eventually landing their first win at Event 10. However this was the catalyst for a roaring surge that carried them to the end for a total of 11 trophies claimed. This was the most by any flag.

VO DINH TUAN – Event 10: Turbo – VN₫ 83,110,000 (~USD 3,500)
VAN LICH VU – Event 29: NLH – Freezeout – VN₫ 287,020,000 (~USD 12,100)
NGOC MINH LE – Event 33: NLH – 2nd Best Hold’em (2nd best hand wins) – Hyper Turbo – VN₫ 45,220,000 (~USD 1,900)
NGOC MINH LE – Event 34: NLH – Single Re-Entry – VN₫ 352,876,000 (~USD 14,860)
PHAM DUY ANH – Event 35: Single Day High Roller – 8 Max – VN₫ 1,044,970,000 (~USD 44,000)
VAN LICH VU – Event 39: Single Day High Roller – 8 Max – VN₫ 927,130,000 (~USD 39,045)
NGUYEN HOANG LONG – Event 40: Zodiac Classic – Single Re-Entry – VN₫ 337,200,000 (~USD 14,200)
DUY THUC NGUYEN – Event 45: Single Day High Roller – 8 Max – VN₫ 874,420,000 (~USD 36,825)
THANH NGUYEN – Event 50: Mini Main Event – VN₫ 480,233,000 (~USD 20,225)
NGUYEN HOANG LONG –  Event 51: APT High Roller – 8 Max – VN₫ 2,614,280,000 (~USD 110,100)
NGUYEN DUC THANH – Event 56: Micro Main Event – VN₫ 173,100,000 (~USD 7,290)

Taiwan’s Jia-ming Zhang wins three events

Out of the 57 trophies claimed, six players walked away with two APT lions each. However, standing out was Taiwan’s Jia-ming Zhang, who achieved an incredible milestone by clinching an impressive three titles.

Event 4: Turbo – VN₫ 87,454,000 (~USD 3,700)
Event 11: NLH – Win the Button – Hyper Turbo – VN₫ 42,626,000 (~USD 1,800)
Event 18: Super Hold’em – 3 Hole Cards) – Hyper Turbo – VN₫ 39,604,000 (~USD 1,675)

What made Zhang’s achievement even more remarkable was that these were his first-ever victories, having previously won only a small daily event back in Taiwan. Throughout the competition, Zhang cashed in a total of eight events, with six of them culminating in final table finishes.